


Whumptober 2020 - 20 - No Choice

by Celticgal1041



Series: Whumptober 2020 [20]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Whumptober 2020, field medicine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27125719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celticgal1041/pseuds/Celticgal1041
Summary: “Look, it’s field medicine, which is never pretty. But at this point, I don’t think we have much of a choice.”
Series: Whumptober 2020 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949548
Comments: 11
Kudos: 28
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Whumptober 2020 - 20 - No Choice

“I’m sorry, but we have no choice,” Magnum said as he pushed his way inside the small house. Nuzo was slung over his and Rick’s shoulders, while TC covered their six. Cut off from the rest of their unit, and with a hurt man in their midst, they’d taken refuge in a nearby villager’s house, hoping for the briefest of respites to deal with their teammate’s injuries.

The woman of the house had been less than pleased when they appeared at her door, the men covered in a mix of dirt and blood, with wild looks in their eyes. When her gaze had landed on Nuzo’s bleeding leg, she’d relented, allowing Thomas to push his way in and dragging the rest of the group in behind him.

She balked when they attempted to lay Nuzo down on her kitchen table, muttering a string of words that had Magnum blushing and apologizing in contrition as he steered them towards the marital bed instead. “TC, keep any eye out for enemy combatants,” Thomas ordered as he stood up again after helping Sebastian lay down. Calvin gave a curt nod in reply, positioning himself to look out through a window next to the front door.

“Rick, what do we have for supplies?” Magnum asked, already rifling through his own vest and pulling out packets of gauze and alcohol wipes, before emptying Sebastian’s vest as well. Across from him, Wright was doing the same and they ended up with a small pile of medical supplies to tend to Nuzo’s wound.

“You ready, brother?” Thomas asked as he pulled a knife and prepared to slit open the hole in his friend’s pant leg.

Adopting a smirking grin, Nuzo held the other man’s gaze as he said, “Be gentle with me.” The comment pulled huffs of laughter from the men around him, settling Thomas’ nerves slightly as he got to work.

An earlier inspection of the wound had shown the bullet to still be lodged in Nuzo’s thigh, and though they’d found temporary shelter, they had no intention of digging around in the man’s leg to remove it. After widening the hole around the entry point, Magnum tore open several packs of antiseptic wipes, sneering at them in disgust before applying them to thoroughly clean the wound. “Would it kill them to give us a small bottle of alcohol to properly clean a wound?” he muttered beneath his breath.

His breath hitching with pain, Nuzo replied, “You could always ask this lovely lady for a bottle of the local moonshine.”

“Dry country, remember?” Rick countered.

“Maybe on the surface,” Sebastian remarked, his breathing growing rapid the longer his injury was being jostled. “But we’ve met enough locals to know not everyone plays by the rules.”

“Well, we won’t need any of their booze today,” Magnum announced as he tied off the last piece of gauze circling Nuzo’s leg. “How’s that feel?”

Lifting his head for a moment to peer down at his body, before once more letting it drop to the thin pillow behind him, Sebastian replied, “Like you tried to saw my damn leg off.”

Grinning, Thomas sarcastically asked, “That good? I must be losing my touch.”

“If you guys are done, we’d better get going,” TC remarked from the door. “It’s getting a tad too busy out there for my liking.” The men’s moods immediately grew sombre as they slid seamlessly back into combat mode.

“Alright, let’s get you back on your feet, you big lug,” Rick said as he leaned over to help Nuzo sit up. On the other side of the bed, Magnum was mirroring Wright’s actions, only to stop abruptly with a sharp hiss of pain as he bent over.

Rick and Nuzo’s eyes immediately swung in his direction, taking in his suddenly pale complexion and the pinched look of his face. “Talk to us, Tommy,” Wright said, his tone a mix of trepidation and worry.

Straightening, Magnum’s hand went to his lower back, his eyes widening when his hand came back damp with blood. “What the hell?” Nuzo exclaimed, as he propped himself up on both elbows. “Why didn’t you tell us you were hurt?”

“I didn’t know,” Thomas replied, his body swaying momentarily as his vision narrowed.

“Help me up,” Sebastian demanded to Rick, already reaching a hand up to the other man to receive his support. Wright hauled the man briefly to his feet, supporting him for a second while he snagged a chair with one foot and pulled it closer so Nuzo could sit down.

“Sit down, TM,” Calvin ordered now that the bed was free, surprising Magnum with his closeness.

Thomas was already shaking his head in disagreement, but TC wouldn’t be put off. Gently, holding the other man by both arms, he pushed the wounded man to sit on the thin mattress. “Check what we’re dealing with,” Calvin directed Rick, maintaining his hold on the SEAL to keep him upright.

Lifting Magnum’s shirt, Rick found the bleeding wound on his friend’s back. “There an exit?” he asked, praying they’d get lucky and Thomas hadn’t been running around with a bullet bouncing around in his body.

Bracing Magnum with one hand, TC tugged at his friend’s shirt, revealing a matching, but larger hole just above the man’s hip bone. “Got it,” Calvin replied. “Looks like it caught him below the vest and it’s bleeding pretty good.”

Rick’s hands moved momentarily to his vest before he remembered they’d already used all their supplies to deal with Nuzo’s wound. With an aghast expression on his face, he said, “We don’t have anything left to treat him with.”

TC motioned to the smaller man to trade places with him, Wright shifting positions so could help stabilize Magnum while Calvin searched his vest. “Two packets of gauze and the same again of antiseptic wipes.”

“Not nearly enough,” Nuzo declared from his seat, guilt flaring in his chest that their limited supplies had been used on him. Switching languages, he used his limited vocabulary to address the home’s owner. A minute later the woman threw up her hands in resignation and stalked off, Sebastian turning his attention back to his friends. “She’s not happy but she’ll bring us some things we can use.”

Within minutes, the woman was back, carrying an earthenware jug with a stopper in it, plus a bundle of hopefully clean rags. “You want us to use this?” Rick looked incredulously at Nuzo.

“You’d prefer we let him bleed out?” Sebastian countered, noting the dampness of Magnum’s shirt and waistband. “Look, it’s field medicine, which is never pretty. But at this point, I don’t think we have much of a choice.”

Raising his glazed, pain dulled eyes, Thomas weighed in. “Just do what you need to do to get me mobile.” Over his shoulder, Rick and TC traded hesitant glances, finally nodding as they reached the same conclusion as the others already had – they really had no choice.

“You better lay down for this,” Wright said, guiding Magnum to lie on his side to allow access to both bullet holes. Switching his hold to one of restraint, he offered TC a curt nod to let him know he was ready. “Here we go,” Calvin announced, both to himself and to their injured friend.

TC uncorked the jug he’d been given, taking a tentative whiff and pulling back immediately when the sharp smell stung his eyes. “Told you it wasn’t all that dry here,” Sebastian remarked, counting on the crudely brewed liquid to have a high enough alcohol content to stave off infection.

Soaking one of the rags he’d been given in alcohol, Calvin began cleaning Magnum’s wounds, rubbing relentlessly until he was satisfied that every speck of fibre and dirt had been removed. When he was done, he poured a healthy measure of the strong spirits on both wounds, catching the excess with another clean cloth.

Beneath his hands, Magnum gasped and twitched, forcing himself to hold still, but suffering for his silence and lack of movement. Each touch of the alcohol-soaked cloth sent bolts of electricity through his torso, until his entire left side felt like it had been set alight.

A cool, damp cloth on the back of his neck pulled him from his misery, his eyes fluttering open even though he had no memory of when they’d closed. He found Rick, who was now wiping his face, wearing an expression of extreme compassion. “We’re nearly done,” Wright murmured, prompting Magnum to offer a slight nod in reply. He let his eyes slip closed once more as he braced himself for more pain, trembling slightly at the cold sweat that now covered him.

A few minutes longer and TC was finally done, placing gauze pads on both the entry and exit wounds and then wrapping a long piece of cloth around his middle to hold them in place. Thomas was nearly gray with pain, but his breathing was beginning to slow, and he opened his eyes when Calvin announced, “All done.”

“Thanks man,” he breathed out, grateful that this round of suffering was over.

With a contrite expression on his face, Nuzo said, “We’d better get going.”

None of them wanted to move right away, but Sebastian was right; what had been a temporarily safe place for them to get patched up, grew less and less so with every second that passed.

“Help me up,” Magnum requested, already preparing himself for the pain that movement would bring. Rick did as he asked, while TC checked outside, confirming it was quiet enough for them to make their exit.

“Pretty,” Thomas remarked with a small grin on his face as he examined the pink and green patterned cloth that adorned his side.

“Only you could make a fashion statement out of field medicine,” Nuzo snorted in reply as he adjusted his hold on Rick’s shoulder, the man once more acting as his human crutch.

Magnum smirked back as he adjusted his weapon, readying himself to lead his men back outside. “Don’t be jelly ‘cause I can totally pull this off.”

His comment drew chuckles from his friends, and the soft sound of laughter accompanied them outside. Inside her house, the woman shook her head, concluding that all men were more than a little touched in the head.

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to AZGirl for proofing; all remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> This story was based on the day 20 prompt: Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore: lost / field medicine / medieval
> 
> Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts if you're so inclined!


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